"Lotte Reinger spent much of her life creating unique and often amazing silhouette animation. Between 1923 and 1926, Rieniger and Koch, with assistance from animators Walter Rutmann, Bertolt Bartosch, and Alex Kardan, created The Adventures of Prince Achmed. One of the world's first feature-length animated films, The Adventures of Prince Achmed displayed Reiniger's ability to create captivating characters through intricate design and an amazingly graceful sense of movement. The film remains unsurpassed as a demonstration of animated art." - Cartoon Hall of Fame
Taxi Zum Klo (taxi to the toilet) is an experimental autobiography, a feature document of gay life in 1980s West Berlin. Frank, a public school teacher by day, trolls the toilets at night in search of tearoom trade. . . Still shocking in its frank portrayal of sexual subculture, Taxi was heralded as 'the first masterpiece about the mainstream of male gay life' by the Village Voice.
Rivette's greatest film. . . turns out to be the first commercial hit of his career. . . this may be because the beautiful lead actress, Emmanuelle Béart is nude, posing as a painter's model, for about half of the film. . . it also seems that . .. Rivette has finally hit on a subject Ñ the collective and individual struggles that produce art and the prices that have to be paid for that art Ñ that speaks to a wide audience. The fact that La belle noiseuse is four hours long makes this even more of an achievement. . ."
FILMOGRAPHY:
L'immortelle (1963)
Trans-Europ-Express (1966)
L'homme qui ment (1968)
L'Eden et apres (1970)
Glissements progressifs du plaisir (1974)
La belle captive (1983)
The Blue Villa (1995)
C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle (2006)
LINKS:
Wikipedia
"La Belle Captive may be Robbe-Grillet's most entertaining and accomplished film. It dazzles the eye by creating a series of secret encounters inspired by Magritte's surrealist painting, which the director named his film after . . . Motifs from vampire films and erotic thrillers are interwoven with more hermetic scenes, but it's somehow all held together by the repeated image of a black clad woman riding a motorcycle. . . " Foreignmoviedsddl.org
France
1983
dvd
The Films of PAUL ROBESON
Body and Soul (1925)
Borderline (1930)
Emperor Jones (1933)
Paul Robeson in Emperor Jones (1933)
Sanders of the River (1935)
Sanaders of the River (1935)
Director: Zoltan Korda Producer: Alexander Korda
London Film Productions
Showboat (1936) "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" "Ol' Man River"
Jericho (1937) Song of Freedom (1937) Big Fella (1937) King Solomon's Mines (1937)
The Proud Valley (1940) Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Native Land (1942)
(1898 -1976)
Paul Leroy Robeson was a great American bass-baritone concert singer, recording artist, athlete and actor who became noted for his political radicalism and activism in the civil rights movement. He is one of the first black artists to refuse segregated audiences. He spent much of his life actively working for equality and fair treatment for all of America's citizens as well as citizens of the world. At the height of his career, Robeson chose to become primarily a political artist.
Robeson was upset with the producers of Sanders of the River as he claimed that they had turned it into a pro-imperialist film. He later wrote that "it is the only one of my films that can be shown in Italy and Germany, for it shows the Negro as Fascist States desire him - savage and childish."
Oscar Micheaux, the director of Body and Soul (1925), was the Godfather of black film.
USA
PAUL ROBESTON;
Portraits of the Artist
The Emperor Jones Tribute to the Artist
Body and Soul Borderline
Sanders of the River Jericho
The Proud Vallery Native Land
In 1956, Taradash belatedly pinned his liberal heart to his sleeve when he made a failed stab at direction with Storm Center, a moral fable about a small town librarian (Bette Davis) defying local book-bumers and having the library torched for her trouble. . . even those critics inclined to give Taradash the benefit of the doubt on the basis of his work with Lang and Ray were unimpressed. - encyclopedia
"Storm Center is the quintessential anti censorship film, offering a very strong, positive image of the librarians played by both Davis and Kim Hunter. Even though the storyline is dated and the town's emotional reversal is somewhat unbelievable, Davis is convincing as the principled librarian, especially as she ponders the question 'How do you get rid of a book?'"
THE TRUMPET:
Aki Kaurismaki
Víctor Erice
Werner Herzog
Jim Jarmusch Wen Wenders
Spike Lee
Chen Kaige THE CELLO:
Bernardo Bertolucci
Mike Figgis
Jirí Menzel
István Szabó
Claire Denis
Volker Schlondorf
Michael Radford
Jean-Luc Godard
Finland
Spain
Germany
USA
Germany
USA
China
Italy
UK
Czech Republic
Hungary
France
Germany
UK
France
2002
2002
dvd
dvd
Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara (4 dvds)
Pitall Woman in the Dunes
The Face of Another
Supplements (162 minutes)
Film director, cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the "direction of undirected action." Born on February 21, 1937 in Grozny, Russia (Soviet Union).
Vartanov & Parajanov
Mikhail Vartanov developed a method of documentary filmmaking termed the 'direction of undirected action' and his work as a documentarian, cinematographer, and essayist became revered through such timeless films as Seasons of the Year (1975), Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992), and a series of essays including The Unmailed Letters, He remains little known outside the small circle of intellectuals and his followers.
After Mikhail "Misha" Vartanov completed his wordless debut film The Color of Land (1969), he was blacklisted. His cast - the modernist painter Minas was later assassinated and the legendary filmmaker, Paradjanov, was imprisoned.
For corresponding with the imprisoned Parajanov, and for bravely petitioning for his release, Vartanov was fired from Armenia's only film studio and he was not allowed to direct for 10 years. During this time, thanks to the tireless petitions of his friends Artavazd Peleshian and Gennadi Melkonian, Vartanov was able to work as their cinematographer and exquisitely lensed two of their films that became classics: Four Seasons(1975) and The Mulberry Tree (1979). In 1984 Vartanov and Paradianoy were taken off the blacklist; Vartanov was permitted to again create his own work.His final film and masterpiece, Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) was highly admired by many cineastes. Vartanov died in Hollywood on New Year's Eve 2009.
The Life and Death of 9413
a Hollywood Extra
Date: 1928
Black & whitte, Silent
One reel / 366 metres
Directed by Robert Florey
and Slavko Vorkapich
Cinematography by
Gregg Toland
The Furies (1934)
3 min. montage sequence
for Crime Without Passion
USA (1934)
written/directed by
Charles MacArthur
and Ben Hecht
Music: Ludwig von Beethoven
Score synchronized by
Slavko Vorkapich
Moods of the Sea is a non-narrative visual(1941) film by Slavko Vorkapich and John Hoffman (1904-1980), set to the music of Felix Mendelssohn known as the Hebrides (or Fingal's Cave) Overture. This 10-minute-long film has become well known as an early example of American avant-garde and independent film.
Conquer by the Clock
(WWII propaganda film)
Date: 1943
Black and white
Running time: 10:40
Directed by S. Varkapich
Written by Phil Reisman, Jr
Photog by Larry O'Reilly
Edited by John Hoffman
Mucic by Erno Rapee
Produced by
Frederic Ullman, Jr.
13 Most Beautiful...
new soundtracks by Dean Wareham &
Screen Test: Ann Buchanan
Screen Test: Paul America
Screen Test: Edie Sedgwick
Screen Test: Billy Name
Screen Test: Susan Bottomly
Screen Test: Dennis Hopper
Screen Test: Mary Woronov
Screen Test: Nico
Screen Test: Freddy Herko
Screen Test: Richard Rheem
Screen Test: Ingrid Superstar
Screen Test: Lou Reed
Screen Test: Jane Holzer
". . . This is my life, always will be. . . nothing else. Only me, the cameras and all these wonderful people in the dark." "Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup. . ."
Wilder, Billy
USA
1950
video dvd
Ace in the Hole
"One of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker, Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole is legendary for its cutting social critique. . . Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career." - dvdbeaver
The soundtrack was composed in August 1951 by Bernard Herrmann; it was his first soundtrack after he moved from New York to Hollywood. Herrmann chose unusual instrumentation for the film including violin, cello, and bass (all three electric), two theremin electronic instruments (played by Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organs, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphones, two glockenspiels, two pianos, two harps, three trumpets, three trombones, and four tubas.